Dare To Hope
by StarkBlack
Summary: NaruSasNaru The Akatsuki are dead, and now Sasuke awaits his punishment for going rogue. Warnings: language, boyxboylove.


Birthday fic for a friend who writes WAY better Naruto/Sasuke/Naruto then I could ever dream. It turned out a little angstier than I first intended, but I guess it's okay cause it's Sasuke and Naruto. There's enough cannon angst there to give me heartburn. I LOVE IT! Anyway, hope you enjoy! X)

**Dare To Hope**

The whine caused by rusty hinges reverberated down the long corridor. The sound scraped against Uzumaki Naruto's teeth and caused a painful ringing in his ears. The blonde stood immobile, fixated in place as fear and doubt paralyzed his limbs, contracted his lungs so he could scarcely take a breath.

The ANBU that held the door, tilted his head to the side. Another time, another place, under different circumstances, Naruto would have laughed. The man's mask was a falcon and the action was so birdlike it should have been funny. But here, underneath the streets of Konoha, in this prison that used to house the most hardened criminals, it was not. The flickering shadow dancing across the white and red mask, gave the plaster a dark visage, an almost demonic aspect that made the young ninja flinch under its seemingly predatory gaze.

"So," the ANBU guard said. "Are you going in or not?"

Naruto moved. He had gone through hell to get permission to do this. He had screamed, he had fought, he had threatened to wear green spandex and babble things about the springtime of youth until he turned thirty to get this opportunity. He wasn't going to chicken out now, not now when he was so close…

He made his way down the long antechamber, past torches fixed in wall sconces, not looking into cells he knew would be empty. As he neared the last door, he slowed, his breath had become labored. Not from exertion, but from the tightness in his chest that refused to go away. He lifted a sweaty palm to grasp at the front of his jacket as if it would relieve the pressure; as if the mere loosening of fabric would make room for his rapidly beating heart.

He took the last few steps slowly, trying to calm himself. He closed the distance between himself and the cell door. His eyes stayed on the packed dirt of the floor as his hands lifted to grasp the cold iron bars. It took almost a full minute to look up, and what he saw before him was exactly what he imagined he would see.

Uchiha Sasuke rested on the flat cot in the corner against the wall. The light from the torches didn't reach very far into the cell, so the dark-haired ninja sat shrouded in darkness. He faced Naruto but his head was down, his palms rested comfortably in his lap. He was relaxed, calm, everything that Naruto was not.

The Uchiha could, if he wanted, escape from this prison as easily as it was for him to blink. But Sasuke was here of his own free will. He had killed his brother, he had killed Mandara, he had fought alongside Naruto to defeat Pein, and now he had returned home, his life's mission completed. He awaited the fate that was to befall him with a placid countenance. He sat in a haze of peaceful chakra, with the most tranquil expression Naruto had ever seen. In the darkness, surrounded by earth and the steady sound of dripping water, Sasuke waited for the Hokage and government officials to decide if he lived or died.

Long seconds turned into long minutes. Naruto stood staring into the shadows, his eyes held captive by the ivory pallor of Sasuke's skin. It seemed to glow softly, standing out starkly against the dark obscurity that surrounded the young man.

"Are you going to stand there all day, you do you have something to say?" Sasuke's voice held no malice, and Naruto wasn't sure if that assured him or just frightened him further.

The blonde took a breath. "I had to see you."

A snort; a soft slide of cloth against rough sheets was Sasuke's only response.

Naruto waited with a patience that was tragically uncharacteristic, for Sasuke to answer him, to say anything, to acknowledge his worry, _anything_… But the Uchiha was silent. Naruto's heart started to curl in on itself. Had he really been wrong? Did Sasuke really have no more room in his soul after vengeance and hatred had eaten away at his very makeup? Was there nothing left for the people that cared about him? Nothing left for Iruka-sensei… Kakashi-sensei? Sakura… for him? For Naruto?

"Sasuke…" he whispered. "Please don't do this…" Naruto felt a heat rising behind his eyelids, a steel grip crushing his heart. He thought he had shed all the tears he was capable of shedding for this man, but apparently he was mistaken. He felt ashamed that Sasuke could make him feel this pathetic; that Sasuke could make him this weak.

Naruto closed his eyes and rested his forehead against his left hand. His body leaned heavily against the bars, those stupid, hateful bars that stood for everything keeping him away from his best friend.

"Sasuke…" Naruto's voice cracked. "Please say something… say anything. Call me a dobe, call me an asshole. Let me know you're still you and I haven't… I haven't lost you completely…"

That peaceful chakra surrounding the dark-haired man started to ripple. It wrinkled and bent as Sasuke moved to the edge of the cot and placed his hands on his knees.

"You never had me to begin with…"

Naruto let out a tiny sob and sank to his knees. What more could he do? Sasuke didn't care about him. He never cared about him. He had used Naruto like he had used everyone else he had ever known to fulfill his selfish dream of avenging his family. He didn't care who he stepped on, who he hurt… whose heart he broke…

"_Fuck you_…" Naruto hissed through short gasps and the hot sting of tears. "Why are you like this? Why can't you see? Why don't you _care_! If they vote against you tomorrow… if they decide…" He grit his teeth, biting his cheek in the process hard enough to draw blood. "If you die tomorrow without talking to me, how will I know if you still have a soul?! How will I know if I was able to bring you back?! _How can I become Hokage if I couldn't save my best friend?!_" If he had anything else to say, it was lost as violent sobbing overtook him. He no longer cared if Sasuke saw him like this, the bastard didn't care about him anyway.

Then there were fingers in his hair. Long slender fingers pushed through his blond spikes. Cold calloused fingers trailed down the skin of his cheek, cupping the side of his jaw to bring his head up.

Naruto opened his eyes to meet Sasuke's dark gaze. The Uchiha knelt before him, one hand holding a bar, the other touching the blonde so gently, it broke Naruto's heart anew. The pale nin's chakra was unhappy, it swirled around the young Uchiha in a confused and melancholic disarray. Naruto tried to quell his weeping as he regarded the face he knew so well, but at the same time, looked so different. He recognized the look Sasuke was giving him. He remembered when the dark-haired man pursed lips like that, he was about to give a lecture.

"Whatever happens tomorrow… It has nothing to do with you, Naruto." Sasuke's voice was soft. To anyone who knew the Uchiha well, they could say it was almost… kind. "Don't let me, or my greed… or my mistakes keep you from your dream. I deserve whatever I receive at the hand of the counsel."

Naruto moved closer to the bars, his anger slowly overtaking his grief. "You stupid… God _damnit_, Sasuke! You're part of my dream! You're part of what I want! I wish you would stop thinking that all you had to live for was to kill your brother! Why can't you see there are people that care about you!? Why can't you see that _I_ care about you?!"

"It's better this way," Sasuke said quietly. His voice was so sad that it broke the careful restraints Naruto had put on his heart. It broke down the wall he had erected to protect himself from this exact situation.

"_No it's not!!_" Naruto screamed. He reached through the bars and grabbed a fistful of Sasuke's hair at the base of his skull. He pulled the surprised Uchiha violently to him, smashing the other's body against hard iron. "You think you have nothing left to live for?"

"Stop," Sasuke said barely loud enough to hear.

"You think you don't have reason to go on?"

Naruto was shocked to see tears well up in the unshakable Uchiha's eyes.

"Pease, Naruto… please don't…"

Naruto brought his other hand up to tangle in Sasuke's ebony hair. His voice shook as he whispered against pale lips.

"You are my rival, my best friend. If you die, half of me dies with you. Do you understand?"

Tears spilled from Sasuke's eyes. The Uchiha bared his teeth and growled at his captor.

"Why are you doing this to me?" he hissed. "Why? Why are you saying all these things to me when I'm likely to die tomorrow!? I was all right with it until you came! I was resolved to it! Why are you giving me false hope!? _Why do you give me a reason to want more now?!_"

Naruto crushed his lips against Sasuke's. He pulled on the dark hair without mercy as he pressed his tongue passed the Uchiha's lips and stole as much of the other's taste as he could. He groaned as he realized that this, this is what he had always wanted from his teammate. This intimacy, this closeness, this _passion_. Sasuke kissed back desperately, his hands clawing at Naruto's arms, his jacket. The bars made it impossible for the two to be as close as they wanted but they made do. They clung to each other in the firelight, Sasuke's soft whimpers playing a subtle harmony to Naruto's moans of need. Naruto's heart soared. It filled his chest and drummed against his ribs as if screaming to be released. There was nothing left in the world but Sasuke. The feel of his skin, the smooth glide of his hair between Naruto's fingers, the hot sensation of the Uchiha's rough tongue sliding against his own.

Naruto pulled away suddenly. He kept his hands carefully woven into Sasuke's locks as he looked into the red and black swirl of the Sharingan. The Uchiha's breathing was ragged. Tear tracks glistened on his 

pale cheeks. He looked at Naruto with a sense of loss that was so tangible, the blonde almost began to cry again.

"Sasuke…" he whispered. "Do you want to live?"

Sasuke closed his eyes. He clenched his jaw and let out a slow, shaky breath and nodded.

"Say it," coaxed Naruto. "You need to say it out loud."

Sasuke's head lowered and his shoulders trembled as he whispered softly.

"I want to live…"

"I'm sorry?" Naruto turned his head to bring his ear closer to the Uchiha's mouth. "What was that?"

Sasuke lifted his head and glared at the blonde. "_I said I want to live, dobe!_" His words rang out in the small space as his chakra flared around him. Naruto could see the truth of what he said laden in the purple haze of energy.

Naruto sat still for a moment before releasing Sasuke's hair and slipping a hand into his pocket. The dark-haired nin watched in confusion as Naruto pulled a key from his jacket and unlocked the cell door. He stood and pushed on the iron bars. Metal screamed against metal as the cell was opened. Sasuke stared up at Naruto's grinning, tear-streaked face in disbelieve and awe.

"What are you doing, Naruto?" Sasuke asked. "What's going on?"

"The counsel already voted, Sasuke." The blonde wiped his eyes with the back of his hand and reached out to the Uchiha. "They gave you a pardon with a few small exceptions."

Sasuke took the hand and stood, looking wary as he was pulled a few steps forward over the threshold.

"What kind of exceptions?"

"You stay under heavy surveillance for no less than a year, and you had to… You had to um…"

Sasuke quirked an eyebrow. "What? I had to what?"

Naruto laced his fingers between Sasuke's and brought the pale hand to his chest.

"You had to want to live," Naruto whispered. "And not just say it, you had to really _want_ to. I've been begging for two days to be the one who came down here to ask you."

Sasuke's eyes widened. "Two days? Why?"

"Because I was sure I was the only one who could get you to say it."

Sasuke looked at the floor then. He let Naruto wrap his arms around him, and after a few moments hesitation, the Uchiha's arms moved up to wrap around Naruto's neck. They stood for several moments, 

just feeling each other's energy, reveling in each other's presence. Naruto kissed Sasuke's hair softly and whispered against the silky strands.

"No regrets?"

Sasuke nodded slowly.

"No regrets."

Naruto buried his face in Sasuke's neck and inhaled the musky, earthen smell that reminded him of training and mock fights by the river.

"It's all right now, Sasuke. I'm here for you… It's all right…"

Sasuke closed his eyes, beginning to feel a calm settle around his heart, because for the first time in the young Uchiha's life, it really was.

**END **


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